Protect against U.S. water exports, former Alta. premier

CALGARY -- Canada should stand firm against inevitable requests from the United States to share its fresh water in the coming years, former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed said Wednesday.

Lougheed said regardless of how the federal election plays out, he would like to see an all-party declaration in the House of Commons confirming Canada's refusal to allow large scale water transfers to its southern neighbour.

"We should not export our fresh water - we need it and we should conserve it," Lougheed said following a speech to the Calgary branch of the Canadian Club.

In northern Alberta, nearly $100 billion of oilsands megaprojects are slated for construction over the next two decades. But extracting the oil currently requires millions of litres of water.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=14c0b36d-f206-464f-a477-2b6c4765613c&k=64696

why do I write that subject, so many times, in so many posts
:banghead:

I met Lougheed up in the NWT years ago when he was trumpeting the virtues of selling your soul to the oil and gas industry. So I couldn't quite figure out why he would be standing up against bulk fresh water exports... then the punch line - needed for the tar sands

those f'ing tar sands, talk about redefining logic
taking 'clean'er energy (natural gas from the North) and using it to process the tarsands to create dirty energy (extracted oil)

taking clean fresh water and polluting it to create oil.

The very sad part is that virtually no one at the Canadian Club would get your point at all...they would call you 'crazy'!

I mean water must have a productive use of course...millions just pour into the sea, people waste on their bodies, caribou drink it without even considering bottle water alternatives...

Same types that look at a forest and see not an necessary biological habitat already in use, but simply start guess-mating how many board feet there might be.

Sad sad puppies...

We need a prohibitive export duty on Canadian resources - at least a duty when exporting to countries that have weak environmental standards.

Despite broad public outcry, Ontario and Quebec are scheduled to sign the final agreement on stewardship of the Great Lakes along with eight U.S. states today.

“In signing this agreement, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Quebec Premier Jean Charest will severely compromise Canada’s ability to protect the world’s largest body of fresh water from diversions and commercialization,” says Susan Howatt, water campaigner for the Council of Canadians.

The Council of Canadians argues that the protection of the Great Lakes should remain a bi-national responsibility regulated by the International Joint Commission (IJC), in which Canada and the U.S. are equally represented. According to Howatt, this deal transfers this responsibility to a regional body, which will be far less effective in protecting Canadian interests.

The Great Lakes Annex demonstrates the need for a new national water policy. According to Howatt, the protection of Canadian water should be an election issue. Given that Canada’s piecemeal approach to water management has left shared waters increasingly vulnerable to bulk water exports and diversions, the Council of Canadians is demanding that all candidates make a clear commitment to the establishment of a national water policy in their election platforms.

http://www.canadians.org/display_document.htm?COC_token=coc_token&id=1323&isdoc=1&catid=68

Well as the MSM thinks that the deal is good these people must be off in left field.